DAVID BROWNLOW (Am. 1915-2008)

David Brownlow, who taught himself to paint by reading art books, earned a permanent spot in North Texas Art history as a member of the Fort Worth Circle. His work is included in the collections of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Amarillo Museum of Art and several others.

The Fort Worth Circle was a group of painters who transformed the region’s art scene after World War II. Mr. Brownlow’s experimentation led to success in producing modernist and abstract pieces, said Morris Matson, a Fort Worth art collector and former City Council member.

He’s probably as widely collected as any Fort Worth artist because he was so prolific,” Matson said. “Anybody that collects art in Fort Worth knows who David Brownlow is.”

Born Feb. 18, 1915 Mr. Brownlow was raised on a farm in Tarrant County. He began painting when he was about 4, said his daughter, Priscilla McCall.

Mr. Brownlow learned what he could from books in the Fort Worth Public Library. He also received encouragement from his junior high school art teacher and from studying local artist Pattie R. East’s work, according to biographical information compiled by local art historian Scott Grant Barker.

During the war, Mr. Brownlow worked as a sheet metal fabricator at North American Aviation in Grand Prairie, according to Barker. Later, he worked in the engineering testing department at General Dynamics. He quit in 1957 to devote himself full-time to art, McCall said.

Mr. Brownlow worked with palette knife. He was known for abstractions of architectural forms, most often cathedrals but also cityscapes, oil derricks and other subjects, according to Barker.

Mr. Brownlow was also a devoted husband, caring for his wife, Margie, after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, McCall said.